Historian with a history of racism dropped by publisher and universities

Following David Starkey’s racist remarks on Thursday, he was dropped as an author by HarperCollins UK, who had a four-book deal with him in 2006, stating that it would not be publishing any further books by Starkey as his views expressed in an interview were “abhorrent”. Starkey, a historian with a history of racism and sexism in his public remarks, reportedly told right-wing commentator Darren Grimes: “Slavery was not genocide, otherwise there wouldn’t be so many damn blacks in Africa or in Britain would there? You know, an awful lot of them survived”. Canterbury Christ Church University also terminated Starkey’s role as visiting professor, citing his comments as “completely unacceptable”. On Friday, Starkey also resigned from his honorary fellowship at Fitzwilliam College at Cambridge. A statement from the college confirmed acceptance of his resignation and stated: “We do not tolerate racism”. Former chancellor Sajid Javid too described the comments as racist and “a reminder of the appalling views that still exist” in the country.